Scientific American Supplement, No. 443, June 28, 1884 eBook

their eggs. It has been found that trees which
have been coated with alkaline washes are avoided
by beetles when laying their eggs. Prof.
Saunders recommends that soft soap be reduced to the
consistency of a thick paint, by the addition of a
strong solution of washing soda in water, and be applied
to the bark of the tree, especially about the base
or collar, and also extended upward to the crotches
where the main branches have their origin. It
should be applied in the evening of a warm day, so
that it may dry and form a coating not easily dissolved
by the rain. This affords a protection against
all three kinds of borers. It should be applied
early in June, before the beetles begin to lay their
eggs, and again in July, so as to keep the tree well
protected.

Hon. T.S. Gold, of Connecticut, at a meeting
of the Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture, in
regard to preventing the ravages of the borer, said:

“A wash made of soap, tobacco water, and fresh
cow manure mingled to the consistency of cream, and
put on early with an old broom, and allowed to trickle
down about the roots of the tree, has proved with
me a very excellent preventive of the ravages of the
borer, and a healthful wash for the trunk of the tree,
much to be preferred to the application of lime or
whitewash, which I have often seen applied, but which
I am inclined to think is not as desirable an application
as the potash, or the soda, as this mixture of soft
soap and manure.”

J.B. Moore, of Concord, Mass., at the same meeting
said, in regard to the destruction of the borer:

“I have found, I think, that whale oil soap
can be used successfully for the destruction of that
insect. It is a very simple thing; it will not
hurt the tree if you put it on its full strength.
You can take whale oil soap and dilute until it is
about as thick as paint, and put a coating of it on
the tree where the holes are, and I will bet you will
never see a borer on that tree until the new crop comes.
I feel certain of it, because I have done it.”

For borers, tarred paper 1 or 2 feet wide has been
recommended to be wrapped about the base of the trunk
of the tree, the lower edge being 1 or 2 inches below
the surface of the soil. This prevents the two-striped
borer from laying its eggs in the tree, but would not
be entirely effectual against the flat-headed borer,
which attacks any part of the trunk and the branches.
By the general use of these means for the prevention
of the ravages of the borers, the damages done by
these insects could be brought within very narrow limits,
and hundreds of valuable apple trees saved.

H. REYNOLDS, M.D.

Livermore Falls, Me.

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KEFFEL’S GERMINATING APPARATUS.

The apparatus represented in the annexed cut is designed
to show the quality of various commercial seeds, and
make known any fraudulent adulterations that they
may have undergone. It is based upon a direct
observation, of the germination of the seeds to be
studied.